Contents for SMQ Issue 11:4
| Brand Extensions by U.S. Professional Sport Teams: Motivations and Keys to Success Authors: Artemisia Apostolopoulou |
| Abstract: Brand extensions are increasingly implemented by sport organizations to create additional revenue streams and enhance brand strength. Although brand extensions have been a topic of extensive study in mainstream marketing (e.g., Aaker & Keller, 1990; Broniarczyk & Alba, 1994; Keller, 1998; Rangaswamy, Burke, & Oliva, 1993; Reddy, Holak, & Bhat, 1994), limited efforts to examine this practice in the sport setting have been undertaken (Chadwick & Clowes, 1998). Given the increasing prevalence of this marketing strategy for sport organizations, this study explores the factors that constitute a successful brand extension in the sport setting. A review of relevant literature is conducted, with a focus on motivations for extensions and identifying the keys to successful brand extensions. In order to examine the applicability of these findings to the team sport setting, descriptive research was conducted with the Marketing Managers of twelve U.S. professional teams. The findings of this research are consistent with common themes found in the marketing literature. However, there were unique factors associated with extensions in the sport setting. For example, beyond generating revenue, some extensions were introduced to enhance the emotional attachment between the consumer and the team. There were also unique variables contributing to the success of brand extensions introduced by professional sport teams, such as winning and the management of the extension. |
| Sport Marketing and the Law – Reducing Risk in Promotion: The Incorporation of Risk Management Principles by Sport Marketers Authors: Matthew T. Brown, Andrew Kreutzer |
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| Perceptions of the Service Experience: Using Demographic and Psychographic Variables to Identify Customer Segments Authors: T. Christopher Greenwell, Janet S. Fink, Donna L. Pastore |
| Abstract: While the game is generally considered the most important factor influencing sport spectators, insights can be gained about how customers, especially different customer segments, view the physical facility and service personnel. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the demographic independent variables age, gender, household income and family size, and the psychographic variable of team identification to affect customer perceptions of three service experience elements: the physical facility, the core product, and service personnel. Results from a sample of 218 minor league hockey spectators revealed that age, gender, household income, and team identification all influenced customer perceptions of one or more elements of the service experience. These findings give minor league hockey marketers a better understanding of how to identify customer segments and which service experience elements need to be better marketed to increase satisfaction of different customer segments. The idea that managers can draw more spectators by delivering quality service is not at all new. One of the first sport managers credited with understanding this concept was Bill Veeck. Planting ivy along the outfield walls at Wrigley Field showed that he understood the importance of stadium aesthetics. Veeck was also ahead of his time in understanding the value of a clean facility. The first team Veeck owned, the minor league Milwaukee Brewers, saw a significant increase in attendance after he gave the stadium a thorough cleaning. In addition, Veeck was one of the first baseball owners to actively recruit and attract female spectators. He attributed much of his success to cleaning up the women’s restrooms (Veeck & Lynn, 1962). Quality service in sport management practice is even more pronounced today. Sport organizations go to great lengths to improve the elements of the sport experience that surround the game. In fact, many organizations are placing a premium on serving customers beyond the presentation of the game. Two good examples of this are the Calgary Flames of the NHL and minor league baseball’s Dayton Dragons. The Calgary Flames have struggled on the ice, finishing near the bottom of the standings, but the organization has been able to maintain much of its customer base by focusing on providing good service. Specifically, the organization’s staff has adopted a more professional approach by listening to customers and putting a premium on treating customers right (Verburg, 1998). This has resulted in an environment where customers appreciate good service, and the organization is not so dependent on the team’s win-loss record to attract customers. The Dayton Dragons, owned by Mandalay Sports Entertainment, have focused on satisfying customers through their new $23 million minor league baseball park. The new park in Dayton comes with two party decks, a state of the art sound system, and a children’s play area. Dayton Dragons president Robert Murphy has stated, “We’re delivering entertainment. We’re just doing it around a baseball game?(Rofe, 1999, p. 42). |
| Psychological Connection to a New Sport Team: Building or Maintaining the Consumer Base? Authors: Jeffrey D. James, Richard H. Kolbe, Galen T. Trail |
| Abstract: A mail survey was conducted with season ticket holders (N=507) of a new Major League Baseball franchise to ascertain whether consumers felt a psychological connection with the team prior to any direct experience with the team. Three items scale were used to ascertain respondents?level of psychological connection to the team (a=.74). Reasons for purchasing season tickets were compared among the groupings. Significant differences were found among the groups of respondents relative to the number and strength of the factors influencing the purchase of season tickets. No significant differences were found among the groups relative to demographic characteristics. Results showed that significant numbers of sport consumers can hold strong connections to a sport team without experiencing it personally. The results suggest a need to broaden current paradigms regarding the development and maintenance of loyal sport consumers. Implications and directions for future research are offered. |
| The FUTURES Golf Tour Case Study: Sponsorship Sales and Eduselling Authors: Elizabeth Jowdy, Mark McDonald |
| Abstract: As the number of sport leagues and events continues to increase, so does the amount of sponsorship dollars required for each to survive. Sport properties/organizers are not only charged with producing unique products for consumers, they must offer unique marketing platforms that attract corporate sponsors. Although sponsorship spending in North America has steadily risen, from $5.9 billion in 1997 to $9.5 billion in 2001 (International Events Group Sponsorship Report 2001), corporations increasingly command managers to thoroughly justify sponsorship investments, due to a struggling economy and tight marketing budgets. Subsequently, the competition for retaining and securing sponsors among sport properties has intensified. No matter its type or size, each sport property competes for the same pool of sponsorship dollars. Even for well-established properties, it is common for a key partner to change marketing directions and discontinue sponsorship. For example, Daytona International Speedway and Haas-Carter Motorsports are currently scrambling to find a new corporate partner after the Kmart Corporation, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, pulled its sponsorship of the Daytona 500 and its two-car race team (King, 2002). Major leagues and large events, such as the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL) and the Olympics, regularly compete against minor and less established properties in sponsorship negotiations. While minor leagues and small-scale events generally compete on the same level in terms of retaining sponsors, they experience greater difficulties with securing new sponsors, given the lack of exposure and awareness of these properties. In order to successfully compete for sponsorships, new and minor leagues and small scale events must focus sales strategies on building relationships and educating corporate partners on product/sponsorship attributes through the “eduselling?process (Sutton, Lachowetz & Clark, 2000). |
| Outsourcing Sport Marketing Operations by NCAA Division I Athletic Programs: An Exploratory Study Authors: Ming Li, Willie Burden |
| Abstract: The outsourcing of marketing operations and rights is a common practice in American college athletics. It is estimated that over half of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletic programs have outsourced some or all of their marketing operations and rights to nationally prominent marketing companies. Nevertheless, a number of Division I-A athletic programs are keeping their marketing operations in-house. This study was designed to examine this polarized development in collegiate marketing. It is hoped that the study will help athletic programs contemplating whether or not to outsource marketing operations make more rational decisions. A survey was the primary means of data collection. One hundred twenty-seven athletic directors from Division I-A and Division I-AA athletic programs participated in the study. The results of this study indicate that more than half of Division I athletic programs have been exercising the outsourcing option partially or entirely. While a majority of Division I-A institutions were taking advantage of outsourcing options, less than half of the athletic programs in Division I-AA do. Results of the study also show that the decision to outsource or not was strongly influenced by the responsible athletic administrator’s perceptions of outsourcing. The reasons cited for outsourcing or not differed greatly between respondents whose athletic programs have chosen outsourcing and respondents whose programs still operated marketing internally. |
| The Day of the Week’s Impact on Selected Socio-demographic Characteristics and Consumption Patterns of Spectators at a Ladies Professional Golf Association Event Authors: Matthew J. Robinson, J. Richard Carpenter |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine if the day of the week impacted select socio-demographic characteristics and consumption patterns of spectators attending a Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) event. A questionnaire was administered to randomly selected spectators on each day of the tournament using the spectator-intercept method for golf developed by Hansen and Guathier (1993). Twoway Chi square analysis determined that significant differences exist regarding the socio-demographics of employment status and age and the consumption pattern of how tickets were acquired and yearly rounds of golf played. No significant differences existed based on the socio-demographic characteristic of income and gender. |
